Terrible experience at Lexus service, here's my rant

[Denkun]

So I recently took my moms little over 3 years old rx350 into a Lexus service center (north NJ) to get the coolant flushed as it looked to be a little dirty and since I think it still has a warranty; put it to use if they find something prematurely broken/ defective since I've never brought it in. Gotta make Doug de Muro proud right? I've done the oil changes on it so I wanted to bring it in atleast once. I'm sure you think taking a car in for such a simple service would be easy right ? Well.. not quite unfortunately.

So I'm sitting in the waiting room for around 30 minutes when the service writer sits next to me and says "yea whatever is wrong with your car a coolant flush isn't going to fix it, why do you even want a coolant flush? We also noticed a lot of aftermarket modifications and when the tech opened your rad cap the coolant didn't explode out like it's supposed to" all I could say was Huhh? so full disclosure: the only "mods" on the car is some reflective insulation on the a/c lines and some worm gear style clamps on some pcv hoses. I walk into the service bay and 3 techs approach my car, one tech says the "mods" are very suspicious no one is supposed to touch these cars. Suspected me of doing engine damaging mods from what they saw, Another tech suggest I motor swapped the car that's why I want a coolant flush. One tech then says "this coolant is lifetime it can't be changed for 10 years, we think you broke something that's why you want the flush." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I did manage to get the flush done after continuing to push for it though

I felt like I had to go through a lot of grief for nothing and these guys gave me a hard time, what do you think?

 

[Whipcitywrencher]

I would have laughed and said, can I please have my keys and said see you later, the jokes on you.

 

[simple_gifts]

I had no problem getting a SLLC coolant change for my yaris...... at a subaru dealer where I bought it. lol

Any clue on why the coolant was dirty?

 

[turtlevette]

I would write a letter to Toyota telling them how stupid their techs are.

 

[Oildudeny]

That's a tough one leaves me a bit confused..

Was the flush done free of charge?

If it was free service, possibly they were trying to discourage the work from being performed.

3-year old vehicle the coolant should be fine and hose clamps should be OE.

 

[dishdude]

I don't blame them for wondering why a 3 year old vehicle that's still under warranty has PCV hoses with worm style clamps and A/C lines that have insulation on them. Why do I feel like we're being trolled?

 

[bdcardinal]

If someone comes in and asks for a coolant flush we will do it. However Ford or Mazda won't cover it under warranty unless there is something that requires the coolant to be drained. And at point they pay for a drain and refill, not a flush.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted By: Denkun
We also noticed a lot of aftermarket modifications....... one tech says the "mods" are very suspicious no one is supposed to touch these cars....... Suspected me of doing engine damaging mods from what they saw,.......


This appears to be the latest stunt dealerships are pulling in order to deny warranty work. You Tube is full of this kind of stuff. A while back there was a guy who had a Dodge dealership deny the factory warranty on his Hellcat, because he had an aftermarket air filter installed on it. (I believe it was one of those washable K&N models).

These days I wouldn't change or add anything on these new cars from what the factory installs. It can be asking for trouble. And if you change your own fluids and filters, save the receipts. (I scan all of my receipts because the ink they print them with can disappear in several months). You just can't be too careful.

 

[AVB]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
If someone comes in and asks for a coolant flush we will do it. However Ford or Mazda won't cover it under warranty unless there is something that requires the coolant to be drained. And at point they pay for a drain and refill, not a flush.
It is the same way at my Chrysler dealership. The only mods we really worry about is tuners because we have to do so many pcm updates. You flash a diesel that has all of the emissions stuff deleted and it will not run anymore.

 

[eljefino]

OP just wants to have a dealer see his car once, as I read it, and perhaps do the 99-point inspection and find stuff that could be warrantied before it runs out.

IDK why there'd be clamps on the PCV system-- it's low pressure vacuum and a snug fit anyway. But whatever floats his boat.

 

[macarose]

That intro made me laugh out loud. First off, Doug DeMuro knows far less about cars than those mechanics. He's nothing more than a well paid entertainer who is heavily sponsored by Autotrader. Nothing more.

On a hunch I would say you may have visited E------d Lexus. They have a small footprint in that neck of the woods.

I'm sorry you had that experience. Every one of those technicians has strict orders on what they can or can not service. The minute they start digging into a modified vehicle, that's the point at which certain customers with ill intent will cry foul. I do think they did the right thing explaining to you why they couldn't do the service although they should have never offered conjecture as to what happened beforehand.

If it bothers you don't blame the dealer or those employees. Blame it on the Lemon Law issues that have made servicing modified vehicles a very dicey proposition for the dealers and OEMs.

 

[Zee09]

Honda dealers here would do the same. They are highly offended with any
DIY maintenance.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

The S--- you get from a Stealership!

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: Zee09
Honda dealers here would do the same. They are highly offended with any
DIY maintenance.


My experience with my local Honda dealer is that they are always telling you what needs to be replaced. I rarely have to go in there, but when I have it always seems they recommend a transmission service, I just tell them I do it myself. The VW dealer on the other hand hasn't ever tried to up sell us on anything, they are pretty good in that regard.

 

[KrisZ]

The techs were right on the money to be suspicious. Worm style hose clamps and meddling with AC lines are a tell tell sign of somebody messing with the engine. I bet they already saw fee of these example with the car possibly having an overheating issue and the owner wants to use the flush as an excuse for them to fix the overheating problem.

 

[bullwinkle]

I'm a little confused as to why SLLC coolant would be dirty with mileage that low-we have several Toyotas with SLLC, literally NONE of them have the least bit of dirt or anything other than a very slight darkening. I have had numerous dealership experiences where a dealer would do or say literally anything to get out of a major warranty repair job, though-from a 4.6 E-250 with coolant tracks from both head gaskets in the block valley that a blind man could see, to a 6.0 PSD that lost coolant from the day it was bought, that the dealer kept dumping stop leak in for the first 50K, until it finally let go (detecting a pattern yet?). Not to mention my poor '02 Ram 2500's Cummins VP44 IP that took 3 idiot Dodge dealerships to diagnose-even after I told them what the problem was, how to diagnose it, & how to fix it! Surprising a LEXUS dealer would pull stuff like that, though!

 

[Denkun]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
The techs were right on the money to be suspicious. Worm style hose clamps and meddling with AC lines are a tell tell sign of somebody messing with the engine. I bet they already saw fee of these example with the car possibly having an overheating issue and the owner wants to use the flush as an excuse for them to fix the overheating problem.



What does ac have to do with coolant those are two different things, I'll explain that I insulated the ac line to make it more efficient and get colder ac even if by a few degrees

 

[Denkun]

Originally Posted By: Oildudeny
That's a tough one leaves me a bit confused..

Was the flush done free of charge?

If it was free service, possibly they were trying to discourage the work from being performed.

3-year old vehicle the coolant should be fine and hose clamps should be OE.



They just did a drain and fill, and I paid for this out of pocket myself

I want to clarify this is my moms car so I want it to be tip top perfect for her. I took a sample out of the overflow to look more closely and there was some slight sediment deposits. Honestly I just wanted peace of mind of fresh fluid and so they can inspect for leaks or trouble since it has a warranty still

Also, some pcv hoses came without clamps from the factory so I decided to just add some I had in the garage

Did I do something wrong guys?

 

[Denkun]

Here's some pics so you can get an idea sorry for the low light

 

[Denkun]